Hubbard rated excellent on report card

September 20, 2009

The Hubbard School District earned an excellent rating for the second year in a row from the Ohio Department of Education's Academic Report Cards for the 2008-09 school year.

Schools performance is based on state indicators that measure the achievement and progress of students within a school building or district. Four separate measures are used to assign one of six designations to districts. These designations are excellent with distinction, excellent, effective, continuous improvement, academic watch and academic emergency. Of 30 indicators used to determine a districts designation, Liberty schools met 21 with a performance index of 94.1 points out of a possible 120.

All three of Hubbard's school buildings received excellent ratings, according to schools' superintendent, Richard J. Buchenic. Achievement tests in reading, mathematics, writing, science and social studies, depending on each grade level, allow schools to earn performance credits.

''Our goal is to always improve,'' Buchenic said, ''and we are working on changes in the middle school since this is the transitional time for students.''

The state requires at least 75 percent of students tested in grades 3, 8 and 10 score proficient or higher on achievement tests. Hubbard third-graders scored 84.1 percent in reading and 76.8 percent in mathematics.

Tenth-grade Ohio Graduation Test-takers scored higher than 75 percent required. The lowest scores were in science at 76.9 percent, with the highest in writing at 89.9 percent. Eleventh-grade OGT scores were even higher with 92.4 percent in science and 92.4 percent in reading. Attendance rates for Hubbard schools was 94.8 percent for all grades with a 97.5 percent graduation rate.

''There is a lot more to being an excellent school district than test scores,'' Buchenic said. ''We have a lot of things to look at in the district and we try to be excellent in a lot of things,'' he said.

Statewide more than 85 percent of school districts and almost 72 percent of school buildings received ratings of effective or higher on this year's report cards. These figures include 116 districts and 215 schools that have earned the excellent with distinction designation.

Over the last decade, statewide student scores on the report have increased 26 percent.